


The One Where They Bodyswap

by thestanceyg



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bodyswap, F/M, Soultember Challenge, because we all need fluff sometimes, but mostly it's just fluff, it's a big bit fluffy, this was supposed to be short, tiny bit of canon typical violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 07:09:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16132220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestanceyg/pseuds/thestanceyg
Summary: If you haven't met your soulmate by the time you're 30, you spend twenty-four hours body swapped. It's not Darcy's birthday for more than a year, and Spencer's is next week, so neither are fully ready for the swap that happens. This is a story about them learning about each other while in the other's body plus a little bit of crime procedural.





	The One Where They Bodyswap

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Dresupi who read over this for me and did some cheerleading when my brain refused to cooperate. She also kept me going when what I thought would be 2-3K words blossomed into what you see here.
> 
> Additional thanks to SerialObsessor who came up with Soultember. I never would have tried this otherwise.

When Darcy had turned 25 and still not met her soulmate, she had started preparing for the possibility of a body swap. She thought it was possible that they were a bit older than her, and she wanted to be prepared. While she acted like she didn’t care about finally meeting them, she had truthfully spent hours pouring over accounts of body swaps to prepare for the possibility. She had a list of important details she kept in her wallet with a blank form for them to fill out for her to find when they switched back. She always had protein bars and a bottle of water with her because she had read the swap was hard on the body. She also always had a change of comfy clothes in her bag in case her outfit made her soulmate uncomfortable. Finally, she had a letter that she had a sticky note attached to, telling her soulmate to put their address on it and mail it to themselves so they would get it after they switched back. (Jane, whom she had no secrets from, had asked her why she didn’t just let her soulmate read it then and there. Darcy explained that she wanted her soulmate to be able to keep it, and that sometimes people who went through the switch still couldn’t get to each other right away.)

Swaps happened at the exact moment one of you turned 30, which was cause for some concern when working with Jane. They had come up with a question that Jane could ask to determine if a swap had happened. She used it liberally whenever Darcy spaced out or looked confused, to the point where it was almost a joke. As Darcy’s 30th birthday got nearer, she asked more and more frequently.

“Whatcha workin’ on?” Jane asked around a mouthful of pasta.

“New letter,” Darcy said. “I update it every quarter.” She switched her pen, having fun writing the lines in a variety of colors.

“What’re you adding to this one?”

“Just how my grad classes have been going,” she said before sipping her water. “The last term was rough, but it’s over.”

Jane nodded as she chewed. “You know, all this prep you did, it says a lot about you as a person.”

“Huh?” Darcy asked.

“I mean,” Jane said, clearing her throat and speaking carefully, “you’ve done all this work for your soulmate to help them feel comfortable and informed while they’re in your body. You know, kinda like you do for me? Always prepared and such? That’s why you’re such a good friend. You just think about others way more than anyone else I know. When I meet your soulmate, I’m gonna make sure they know how lucky they are.”

Darcy blushed. “I’m pretty lucky to have someone like you, so I guess we’re even.”

“We’ll never be even,” Jane disagreed. “You held me together when Thor and I broke up, even though I knew it had to happen.” Darcy’s heart constricted. Thor was not Jane’s soulmate, and when she had turned 30, no swap had occured. It was rare, but not unheard of. Jane was unmatched.

Darcy put down her pen and grabbed Jane’s hand. “I promised you I would always be your soulmate, and I meant it.”

Jane squeezed her hand and released it. “I know, but I also won’t hold you to that when it happens.”

It was a familiar argument, but Darcy let it go. She could see in Jane’s eyes she was tired. Instead she changed the topic. “So what’s the plan for tonight?”

Jane looked over at the computer where her data was compiling. “We have about two hours of data left, and then I was thinking we should try that new bar down the block.”

“The one that looks like it’s a place Tom Haverford would love that makes no sense?” 

“That’s the one,” Jane said, pointing at her with her fork. 

“Love it. Excellent plan, boss.”

* * *

The next morning Darcy and Jane were laughing about how outrageous the bar had been when suddenly Darcy felt dizzy.

“Jane,” she said, grabbing onto the table next to her, “I don’t feel too good.”

Jane rushed up to her, and she felt her eyes close. When she opened them, she was no longer in the lab.

“What the fuck?” she whispered under her breath. She was sitting in a chair at a small round table and several pairs of eyes were staring back at her. She could feel a headache building.

“Reid?”

“Sorry, no,” she said. 

A woman standing at the front of the group with the cutest purple glasses gasped. “Body swap?” she asked.

Darcy nodded and a small bit of hair fell into her eyes. She brushed it behind her ear. Being in someone else’s body was so strange. Her fingers were longer than in her body, and she could tell she was taller, too.

“What’s your name,” an older man asked her gently.

“Darcy,” she said, feeling everyone staring at her. “Darcy Lewis.”

“Well happy birthday Darcy Lewis!” said the woman with the glasses.

“It’s not my birthday,” she said with a frown. “I thought it was, well,” she looked down at her body, realizing she hadn’t given a thought to what sex she currently was, “his.”

“No,” the woman said. “His birthday is next week.”

“What?” she asked, confused. “How is that even possible?”

“When is your birthday?” the man asked her. 

“My thirtieth? Not for another...sixteen months,” she said, quickly doing the math in her head.

Everyone sat quietly for a moment, considering what she said.

“No matter,” a different man finally said. “There are protocols in place for this.”

Before he could get too carried away, Darcy cut in, “Could I maybe get some names or something? I can’t keep calling you people ‘the one with awesome glasses’ and such in my head.”

“Oh!” the woman said. “I’m Penelope. Penelope Garcia.” She started pointing around the table. “That’s JJ, Derek Morgan, Aaron Hotchner, and Dave Rossi.”

“Wait,” Darcy said, pulling the names out of her memory. She turned to the man who had been so nice to her at the start, “You’re  _ Dave Rossi _ ?”

“Yes,” he said slowly. “Why?”

“Am I in the FBI? Because I had to read some articles by you for one of my classes, and your byline said you were in the FBI.”

“You are,” said the man she now knew was Aaron. “Which is why we need to follow protocols.”

“Just one more quick question,” she said, interrupting again. “Who am I...errr, my soulmate? You know what I’m asking.”

“Dr. Spencer Reid,” Dave said.

* * *

“Darcy!” a woman was saying, crouched in front of him. He blinked his eyes. “There you are,” she said, smiling a little. “Where’s the best coffee from?”

“I don’t know,” he said, looking at her confused.

The woman gave a startled yelp. “Soulmate!” she cried. “You must be Darcy’s soulmate! I’m so happy to meet you. She’s very prepared for you.” She stood up and grabbed a bag from a nearby chair, handing it to him. “This is Darcy’s bag. There’s all sorts of stuff in there. I’ve heard that swapping can be rough, physically, so she’s got a protein bar in there. I suggest you eat it, and I’ll order us some food while you rummage through there. Anything you like in particular? We have all sorts of stuff close enough to deliver.”

“How about whatever is Darcy’s favorite?” he said, more like a question. “It is her birthday, after all.”

The woman stopped and turned to face him. “No it’s not,” she said, studying him. “She doesn’t turn 30 until next year.”

He frowned and felt glasses slip a bit down his nose. He instinctively pushed them up. “My birthday isn’t until next week.”

Jane stopped looking at her phone where she was, presumably, looking to place a delivery order. “Huh,” was all she said. She was now looking at him like he was an interesting puzzle. “I definitely want to explore that a little further, but for right now I’d rather we just do normal body swap stuff because Darcy put so much thought into this, and I need you to understand how amazing she is before you swap back.” Her eyes turned fiery. “Darcy is my best friend and the best of people. Soulmate or not, I will not hesitate to throw you into a wormhole if you fail to recognize that.”

“I’m sorry, a wormhole?” he said, looking around the space. He was apparently in a lab. There were machines humming and two computers. He looked quickly at the data on the laptop on the table next to him before looking more closely at the woman in front of him. “You’re Dr. Foster,” he said, the pieces suddenly pulling together. She was dressed very casually, nothing like she was in her author photo or the one time he had seen her lecture, but now that he was looking at her face, he knew if must be her. “My soulmate is your best friend?”

“Darcy is the best period.” He saw the firm set of loyalty in her face. “You’re a lucky person...I’m sorry. I don’t think I actually asked your name.”

“Spencer,” he said. “Dr. Spencer Reid.”

Jane narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not one of those academic asshats that looks down on women in academia are you?”

He recoiled. “Of course not.”

“Good,” Jane said, looking back at her phone. “Eat that protein bar. We’ve got a lot to do today.”

* * *

“So Reid was scheduled to be off on his birthday, as is procedure,” Penelope was saying as she led the way out of the conference room and toward the desks. “But I know he had been working on some stuff for you. I think it might be in his go bag.” She stopped in front of a desk and bent over, pulling a large leather bag out from underneath it. “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t care if you just went through everything,” she said. “Also, it’s super weird to not call you Spencer or Reid because I just look at you and that’s all I see.”

“Totally understand,” Darcy said. “I’ll work on answering to it. I mean, it’s only 24 hours, but hopefully I’ll catch on quickly.”

Penelope looked back up to the conference room they had vacated where the rest of the team still was. “So, I’m supposed to help you gather any things that are his, give you his address, and then call you a car to take you to his place,” she said fidgeting. 

“Wait,” Darcy said, considering the words. “The protocol here is to make me sit in his apartment or house alone? How...how am I supposed to learn anything from that?” While she didn’t expect him to be as prepared as she was, she  _ had _ expected to still be able to get to know him.

“Yeah,” Penelope said softly. “And they’re heading into the field, so there’s not much we can do for you anyway.”

“They?” Darcy asked, hoping she was about to be right. “But not you?”

“No?”

“Look, I know what I’m about to ask you is crazy,” she said whispering, “but what if I just hang out with you at your desk today? I’ll get this body home at the end of the day, and you can maybe help me understand who he is. The only other people that know we switched are in that room and will be leaving soon….” Darcy trailed off, trying to read Penelope’s face.

She looked back at the conference room once more. “Okay. Yes,” Penelope said. “But you really do need to hide in my office. Luckily I have a door.”

“I really want to hug you right now, but I don’t know if that’s something Spencer would do.”

“Best you don’t since there’s no obvious reason,” Penelope said. “Grab your bag. Let’s go.”

Darcy smiled and quickly followed her. 

* * *

Spencer stared into Darcy’s bag. Jane hadn’t lied. She really had thought a lot about this. He had eaten the protein bar, which really had helped the headache that had started to build. He had put his address on the stamped envelope he had pulled out, and Jane had quickly thrown it into a box of other outgoing mail. He was looking over the small form of quick facts about Darcy when Jane dropped a bag of food on the table next to him.

“So Spencer,” she said, pulling his focus, “I need you to answer a few questions so I can figure out which of Darcy’s several plans we should follow.”

“Plans?”

“I told you she was prepared,” Jane said as she pulled out boxes, opening one and then sliding it toward him. “What are the things you are most interested in learning about Darcy?”

He looked down at the paper that told him basic details. “I actually am interested in seeing where she lives if that’s not too personal,” he said. “Part of my job is deducing things about people from their personal spaces.”

“What kind of job is that?”

“I’m a profiler? With the FBI?” He didn’t mean for it to come out as a question, but he was worried about the reaction it would cause. Dr. Foster was somewhat famous for her dislike of government agencies.

“So is your doctorate in like criminal justice or something?” she asked, apparently not taking issue with his government job.

“Three actually. Chemistry, engineering, and math.”

Jane snorted. “If you turn out to be some willowy stick of a man, Darcy will have no choice but to fall instantly in love with you. She’s got a thing for tall, lean nerds.”

He could feel his cheeks flushing and coughed to hide his embarrassment. 

“Shut. Up.” Jane said, staring at him before she cracked up. “Darcy hit her own personal jackpot. She totally deserves it, by the by.” Jane sobered a little and looked at him. “Sweet Thor it’s weird to look at Darcy and know it’s not her. Anyway, I mean it. Darcy is the best and deserves nothing but the best.” The hardness in her eyes eased. “And yeah, we can go see her apartment. She had a plan that included that.” A machine dinged on the far end of the lab. “Go ahead and keep looking at the stuff she left you. Also, eat up. I’m still going to make you do some work, especially since I now know that you should be able, intellectually, to pick it up.” With that she pushed away from the table and went toward whichever machine had made noise.

Spencer took a bite of the pasta that had been placed in front of him and started filling in the fact sheet Darcy had left him. When he finished that, he fished out the cozy yoga pants and sweatshirt that were in the bag. Wearing a skirt was a little strange, and he wanted to change so he could focus on learning all he could in the 24 hours he had. He went toward the bathroom Jane had pointed out earlier, but paused. He hadn’t had a chance to look at himself yet. He knew that he was shorter and now, obviously, had breasts, but he had no real idea what he looked like. He pushed open the door, ready to see Darcy.

It was a one person restroom with a small mirror above the sink. When he turned to lock the door behind him he was surprised to see a full length mirror on the back. His hand hovered over the lock while he looked at the image before him. 

She was stunning. 

* * *

Penelope frowned at her computer as they walked into her office. Darcy immediately loved the personality on display there, and thought her new friend might have been frowning at what she thought Darcy was thinking about the space. “I love your office,” she said. “It just feels like you.” Penelope smiled her thanks, but still seemed concerned. “Is something wrong?” Darcy tried.

“It’s just...a lot of the stuff I have access to is classified.”

“Oh!” Darcy said, understanding. “You can look me up. I’m cleared level 7 with SHIELD, but I don’t know what that translates to for you.”

“You have a SHIELD clearance?” Penelope asked, slightly agog. 

“Oh! Um, yes. I work with a scientist that works with classified data. She’s basically the only expert in the world, so they had to clear us if they wanted her head working on things.” Darcy paused. “No offense, but we kind of hate most government. I mean, we’ve never had a problem with the FBI, but SHIELD….”

Penelope nodded. “I can see hating government agencies if they were your main experience. No offense, but I  _ am _ still going to look you up.”

“None taken,” Darcy said, sitting in the empty chair as Penelope got to work on running her background. She watched in fascination as her fingers flew over the keys. “Is that a standard government system?” she asked, unable to help herself. “Because that is miles better than the stuff I work with on a regular basis.”

“Oh, no,” Penelope said with a laugh. “I designed this myself.”

Darcy let out a low whistle. “I’d love to interview you for my thesis.”

“Thesis?” Penelope asked, her eyes still on the screen.

“I’m working on my masters in Computer Science. I built most of the programs Jane now uses for her research.”

“No. Way.” Penelope said, now turning to face her. “Reid doesn’t even like to text.”

“I’ll have to fix that,” Darcy said.

Something dinged, and Penelope turned her attention back to the screen. Darcy saw her clearance file, including her official photo as well as a few surveillance candids she was unaware of. “Is that you?” Penelope asked, looking between her and the screen.

“Yeah, though none of those are particularly flattering,” Darcy said, eyeing one photo where she was clearly in pajamas.

“What are you talking about?” Penelope said. “You’re gorgeous!”

”Oh, well, thank you.” She knew she must be blushing. “Ummm, out of curiosity, what does Spencer look like?”

“Oh!” Penelope said, grabbing her purse. “Of course!” She pulled out a compact and handed to her. “I honestly don’t know what the mirror situation is like in the men’s room, so this will have to do. I know Reid has a full length mirror in his bathroom at home, so you’ll be able to get a better look then.” Darcy took the compact and prepared herself to open it. She knew that looks shouldn’t matter. This was her soulmate. But she couldn’t help but hope that he was good looking. She looked up and Penelope was watching her, and she thought she saw a touch of worry in her eyes. Darcy took a breath and then flicked open the compact.

She took a moment to really look at herself. Her soulmate had floppy hair and kind eyes. She thought she looked utterly kissable. She put the mirror down and looked at Penelope. “Now don’t be scandalized,” she said, “but I just…” she trailed off, not sure how to explain she was about to feel him up. She ran her hands up and down her sides, patting down her legs, grabbing her butt, and getting a feel for the body that she had only guessed pieces of. 

Penelope burst out laughing. “Well?” she asked.

“He’s perfect.”

* * *

“So what did you guys do?” he asked as he helped Jane move one of the machines. He had spent the morning helping her with tasks around the lab, and she had been sharing stories about his soulmate.

“Had a food fight," Jane said, smiling at the memory. "My favorite shirt smelled like banana pudding for weeks after." They stopped and placed the machine in its new location. "We totally won, by the way," she added.

"How do you win a food fight?"

"We didn't get hit with anything that stained us. The guys though? Not so lucky."

"It sounds like fun but a giant mess after," he said, trying to picture Darcy with marshmallow fluff in her hair.

"It really was," Jane said, pulling her phone from her pocket. "Here." She handed him the phone and he was looking at a picture of the two of them laughing while covered in food. He knew that he could get lost in just staring at his soulmate, but there would be plenty of time for that later when they switched back. He didn’t want to waste the time he had now, so he handed the phone back to Jane. 

“I never asked,” he said suddenly, “but where are we?”

“Flagstaff, Arizona,” Jane said, putting her phone back in her pocket.

Spencer looked up sharply. “Dr. Foster, how close is this lab to the Fort Valley trailhead?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Is that something you’re interested in? There are like a million hiking trails out here.”

“My team is on their way out here to investigate a series of murders,” he said, looking out the window. “Where in Flagstaff are we?”

“One of the outer buildings near Lowell Observatory,” Jane said.

He thought for a minute about the map he had only had a cursory glance at. “Where in relation to the city proper is that?”

“Just a bit North,” Jane said. “We’re actually still somewhat close to the city, though you can’t tell from here.”

“East or West of 180?” he asked, trying to pull more details from his memory.

“West.”

“Then we’re probably within a ten mile radius,” he sighed.

“Do we need to be worried?” Jane asked.

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

* * *

“I live for my fingers to do your bidding,” Penelope answered the phone, making Darcy snort as she tried to keep quiet.

“Behave baby girl. I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Hit me with your best shot,” she said. “I am ready, willing, and able,” she turned and winked at Darcy.

“Garcia, we’re struggling a bit without Reid here. Can you pull up a map and help us with the geography a bit?”

“Can do, sir,” she said, pulling up their coordinates. “Whatcha need?”

“We’re trying to figure out the geographic area where our victims overlap,” Aaron said. “Can you use their home and work addresses to do that?”

“It will take a moment for me to find the radius I need for them to overlap. I’ll hit you back up when I have an answer.” She hung up the phone with a poke of her pen, and then her fingers were flying over the keyboard. While she worked, Darcy was looking through some photos and videos Penelope had saved on one of her (four!) phones. She hadn’t realized how long they had been sitting there until her stomach protested. She looked at the time on the phone and realized she had been in Spencer’s body for nearly eight hours. A third of her time was gone.

She rifled through Spencer’s go bag that was on the floor next to her and found a bag of candy and, buried beneath everything, a yellow legal pad with notes on it. She had ignored it earlier, but now she found herself drawn to it, wondering what his handwriting was like and what he might have been working on. 

She unwrapped a chocolate bar and put the pad in her lap. His handwriting was hurried, but nowhere near as bad as Jane’s. She was surprised to find that it seemed to be drafts of ideas for things to write to her. There were lists of facts to include, snippets of poetry that made her smile and blush, and general thoughts on soulmates and being hers. It was all over the page, and some things were crossed out and others circled. 

“So good news, bad news,” Penelope was saying. “Good news is I have a 1 mile radius of overlap.”

“Bad news?”

“Bad news is there are a ton of businesses there, so it’s hard to pinpoint which one is the one they have in common.”

“What about checking receipts?” Aaron asked.

“Several of the businesses are cash only, and I do have ATM withdrawals from all three victims on the days preceding their abductions,” Penelope sighed.

Darcy looked up from the pad to Penelope’s screen. “Is that Flagstaff?” she asked.

“Who’s there with you?” Aaron asked. 

Darcy shot Penelope a contrite look.

“Yeah, it’s Flagstaff,” Penelope whispered to Darcy.

“Just an intern dropping off some files for me to sign off on,” Penelope said. “They’re gone now.” She grimaced at her screen.

“Keep digging,” Aaron said, and the line went dead.

“I am so sorry,” Darcy said right away.

“How did you know it was Flagstaff?” Penelope asked.

“That’s where I am right now. Or, well, my body. You know what I mean.”

“So Spencer’s there right now and you know the area,” Penelope said, excited. “That’s actually great. I am both about to be in so much trouble but also so helpful,” she said, dialing.

“You have something already?” JJ asked.

“Kind of,” Penelope said. “So, I maybe didn’t make Spencer’s soulmate go home. She’s here. With me. Still.”

“Excuse me?” Aaron said. His voice was icy. "Garcia-”

“She has clearance,” Penelope cut in, grimacing, clearly worried about how her boss would take being cut off. “And, without her being here, I wouldn’t be able to tell you two very specific things. One, she’s an expert on the area because two, that’s where her body currently is.”

“So what you’re telling us is that we have a resource and Reid,” Dave said

“Exactamundo,” Penelope said with a smile. Darcy hoped she was no longer in trouble.

“Where is he?” Derek asked. Penelope turned to look at her.

“Jane, err, Dr. Foster’s lab in one of the buildings outside the observatory. When you get there, just ask one of the staff where she is.”

“You have a number to call her at?” Dave asked. “In case she’s not there?”

“Shit,” Darcy muttered under her breath. “I never memorize numbers.” She thought for a second. “Oh wait! I’ll just call my phone! If I call from Spencer’s, hopefully he’ll recognize the number and pick up.”

“We’ll hit you back in a second,” Penelope said, hanging up on them again as Darcy searched the pockets of the bag for the phone she had found earlier.

“I hope I didn’t get you in trouble,” Darcy said apologetically.

“It’s fine. It turned out to help, so it will probably just be a little bit of yelling. Nothing too bad.” Darcy pulled the phone out and realized she didn’t know the code to unlock it. She looked up at Penelope. “It’s actually a fingerprint scan,” she said. “Luckily you’re in his body.”

Darcy pressed her finger onto the lock screen and it opened up. She took a moment to look at his background (a team photo with everyone smiling), and decided that she would explore what else was on there later. She dialed her phone.

* * *

Spencer dug in Darcy’s bag and pulled out the ringing phone.

“Who is it?” Jane asked.

He looked at the screen. “It’s...me?” Jane looked at him, confused. “That’s my phone number,” he clarified.

"Yours?" Jane asked, looking at the phone. "You should answer that," she added as it continued to ring.

"Right," he said, pressing the option to answer. "Hello?" he asked tentatively.

"Oh man this is weird," the voice said on the other side. "Is that what my voice sounds like?"

"It  _ is _ a bit strange," he agreed. "Darcy?"

"Spencer?" she replied. Even though it was his voice, it was her emotions he heard. They both sat quietly for a moment.

"I, um, called to see where you and Jane currently are. Your team is there and could use your help,” Darcy finally said.

"We're at the lab," he replied automatically. "Are you...?"

"With them? No. Apparently that's against protocol." He could her the distaste in her voice.

"You're at my apartment then?" he asked, trying to figure out how she knew to call him.

"No," she said with a bit of mirth. "Penelope and I decided not to completely follow  protocol. I'm in her office." He heard a bit of whispering and laughter before she added, “And please do your best to be helpful in the next sixteen hours so Penelope doesn’t get in too much trouble. I really like her, especially because she’s told me great stories about you.”

“I hope nothing bad,” he said, a bit nervous.

“You’re my soulmate, Spencer,” she said, and it was soft and gentle. “Fate says I have to love you no matter what.” She huffed a small but kind laugh.

He could feel himself melting a little. “Jane’s been telling me about you too,” he told her. “You were so prepared for me. I feel bad I wasn’t ready for you.”

“None of that,” she said. “Jane always said I was a bit too romantic for my own good anyway.”

“No such thing,” he said, meaning it. “If you end up back at my apartment, you should check my nightstand drawer,” he added even though his project wasn’t totally done. He had a feeling she wouldn’t judge him for it.

“I will.” She paused a moment. “Penelope wants to talk to you.”

“Boy wonder!” Penelope chirped. “How’s Darcy’s body?”

He heard her gasp while Penelope cackled. “I’m glad you two are getting along,” he said. “It’s different to be me and not me at the same time,” he admitted. It was strange to have a body that didn’t react in the ways he expected. “But it’s also...perfect?” he said, trying to pick the right word. “Is it odd that it’s only been eight hours, and I feel so connected?”

“To her?” Penelope asked. He could feel Jane’s eyes on him. He blushed.

“Yeah.”

“I think it’s cute,” Penelope said. “Besides, I think she feels the same way.” He could hear Penelope saying something to Darcy before she came back on the line, “Anyway, we need to call the team and tell them to head your way. I’ll see you later, kay?”

“Can you put Darcy on again?” he asked.

“Sure,” Penelope said in a voice that implied the “Awww, aren’t you adorable.”

“Hi,” she said, and there was that round softness to her tone again.

“Hi,” he said back.

“It really is weird to hear my voice but know it’s you,” she said. “You’ll take care of my Jane, right?”

“Of course.”

“You like her, right?” There was an edge of concern in her voice.

“I do.”

“Good. Because even though you’re my soulmate, she is too.”

He looked over at Jane and realized that she was older than Darcy. He recalled a short bio attached to one of her papers. If Darcy was saying this, it probably meant Jane was unmatched. “Ours,” he clarified. “She’s ours.”

“Ours,” she repeated. “I like the sound of that.” There was some muffled talking in the background. “I’ve got to go. I actually might be able to help Penelope with what she’s doing right now.”

“I’ll talk to you again soon,” he said, wondering how long it would be before they spoke again.

“You better,” she said with a laugh. “Bye Spencer.”

“Bye Darcy.”

“Well?” Jane asked when he hung up. 

“Well what?” he asked.

“How is she?”

“She’s good. My team is on their way here. Apparently they need my help.”

Jane made an annoyed sound. “You only get twenty-four hours,” she said, “and they want you to waste some of it.”

He paused, considering that. “I do want to see her apartment still,” he admitted.

Jane sat on the table in front of him. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“What’s your clearance level?” he asked.

* * *

Darcy finished marking the map. “Those are the four places I’d start with,” she said. “Just based on what we know about each victim.” She looked over at one of the other screens. “Plus, this one we know for a fact went to the New Age shop since she tweeted about it.”

“Why those four?” Rossi asked over the video chat.

“Because each of the victims was a little bit hipster and a little bit hippie,” Jane said. “Those are the cash only places that those people gravitate toward.”

“Though most of them have recently started accepting credit cards,” Darcy added. “But habit and all.”

“His hunting ground is going to be in this one mile radius,” Spencer said, tapping the circle he had drawn on his map. “I agree that we should start with the places Darcy and Jane suggested, and then work on canvassing the rest of the area. Time of abduction is estimated to be between 8 P.M. and midnight, so the night staff might not be there yet.”

“It is so weird to hear your words come out of her body," JJ said with a smile.

“But what a body,” Derek added with an exaggerated, fake leer.

JJ smacked him upside the head at the same time as Jane made a disgruntled noise.

“Yeah, I’m hot,” Darcy said with a shrug causing a ripple of laughter. “But no, really,” she added, running her hands down her chest, “Have you  _ seen _ this body?” She really wasn’t kidding. She was excited to get her hands on him once they switched back.

Spencer blushed a hot red, causing everyone to laugh some more.

“Right,” said Aaron. “We’ll go canvass the area. Reid, we have Darcy’s number if we need you again before tomorrow morning.”

“Quick question before we all disperse,” Darcy said, causing everyone to pause. “When we switch back, is Spencer going to be coming out to Flagstaff?”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Aaron said before abruptly ending the video conference.

Darcy looked at Penelope. “Did I do something wrong?”

“He’s just touchy about soulmates,” Penelope said delicately.

"Oh," Darcy said, unsure what to make of that.

"He doesn't really talk about it, but my understanding is that it was complicated and left him a bit jaded on the whole thing."

"I see," Darcy said. She couldn't imagine what her reaction would have been if her own experience had been complicated in any way. So far her time in Spencer's body had been interesting but straightforward. "What about you?" she asked. "Was it complicated for you?"

"Oh, I didn't body swap," she said. "In fact, statistically speaking, you're actually in the minority. Only 10% of people body swap."

"So how did you meet yours?" Darcy asked, curious.

"It's kind of funny, actually," Penelope said, her cheeks dusting pink. "It's how I ended up at the FBI."

"Oh! So he's an agent too?"

"You actually met him this morning," Penelope said. "It's Agent Morgan."

"Damn girl," Darcy said. "But also you two seem like good compliments for each other. From what I've seen, that is."

"Thank you," Penelope said sincerely.

* * *

He could tell Jane was fidgeting nervously in the doorway as he looked around Darcy's room. "Well?" she finally asked.

His eyes lingered on the pictures taped to her wall. "She's the type of person everyone likes," he said, looking at the genuine smiles on everyone's face. "I'm....not," he finally settled on.

Jane snorted. "You think that matters to her? I'm not either. In fact, I'm downright rude when I'm on a research roll."

"I like people, I just sometimes have difficulty relating to them."

"Like I said," Jane replied, stepping next to him to look at the wall, "Darcy doesn't care. Once you’re hers, that's that. She'll be there for you no matter what."

"What if I'm not worth all of that?" Spencer asked, feeling like he wasn't going to bring much to this partnership.

Jane hugged him. "She'll never think that. Give what you have to give and that will be enough. Besides, you're soulmates. You were put together for a reason."

He nodded even though he wasn’t sure if he believed it. He looked around the room once more. Jane had explained that she and Darcy were only here temporarily, and that they moved often. They owned a building in a small New Mexico desert town, which is where they lived in between research appointments like this one. Jane had stressed that it wasn’t fully representative of Darcy because of that, but he thought it said a lot about her precisely because it wasn’t permanent. It showed what she thought was important; what she valued. Obviously the people she considered friends were the most important to her since pictures were the main decoration. He also noticed her textbooks and lots of knit items, which Jane told him were all handmade by Darcy herself.

Jane knocked shoulders with him. “C’mon. Let’s go get dinner and then we’ll call it a night.”

He looked at the clock. There were only ten hours remaining in the swap, and while he didn’t want to waste any of them sleeping, he couldn’t deny that he was exhausted and had no desire for Darcy to return to a body that would be ill because he wanted to stay awake. Plus Jane had said that tomorrow was a field night and he didn’t want to make it difficult for her to work. “Sure. Where to?”

“One more favorite of Darcy’s,” Jane said. “We’ll hit up Dara Thai and then head over to Firecreek Coffee for tea or beer.”

“Tea or beer?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Even though they have really good coffee, Darcy only drinks it early in the day. She picks tea or beer depending on what’s on tap when we get there that night.”

“Lead the way,” he said, giving one last look to the well loved quilt on the bed.

* * *

“You sure you’re good for the night?” Penelope asked as Darcy stood in the center of Spencer’s apartment, taking it all in.

“Yeah,” she said, suddenly feeling like she knew a lot more about him.

“Here,” Penelope said, shoving a several bills into her hand. “Order something from one of the places he likes. His favorite menus are in the kitchen in the drawer closest to the refrigerator.”

“Oh, I can’t…,” Darcy started to demure.

“Take it,” Penelope insisted. “I know he was planning on making food for you and putting it in the refrigerator, but that didn’t happen, so he’d want me to make sure you had the next best thing.” Darcy’s stomach growled. “And who knows if he even has edible stuff in his fridge. You’re hungry. Take it. He’ll pay me back tomorrow.”

Darcy put the money in her pocket. “Okay. Thanks,” she said. “For everything. Not just the money.”

Penelope leaned in and hugged her. “I can’t wait to meet you in your body. I’ll see you….well, whenever I see you. Take care of yourself, Darcy.”

“See you soon, Penelope.”

They both walked back over to the door. Darcy shut and locked it after Penelope and looked around again, trying to decide where to start. Her stomach gurgled some more. “Okay, I’ll start with ordering food,” she said to no one.

In the kitchen she found the menus right where Penelope said they would be. She flipped through them until one caught her eye. Russian food it was. She quickly placed the order for delivery, and then started a careful examination of the kitchen. There wasn’t much beyond staples, but she found a grocery list on the refrigerator door. She hummed happily when she found his stash of quality coffee beans, and giggled over his collection of nerdy coffee mugs. 

She stepped back into the living room and took in the bookcases. She scanned the titles, making note of some that matched with things she had read in undergrad, smiled at a few contemporary fiction books, and was a little surprised to see some well worn poetry books as well. When she realized that some of the books were actual leather notebooks, she debated pulling one out to look at it. 

Her curiosity won out, and she pulled one from the shelf, flipping it open to see lines and lines of messy, though not illegible handwriting. She put it back, not wanting to invade his privacy, and looked toward the door that must be the bedroom. She hesitated for a moment before pushing open the door.

The bed was a huge, wooden framed thing with soft-looking bedding. The bed was made, and she thought back to how hers wasn’t. On the wall was a framed picture of him with the team, and another of him with a blonde woman that she guessed was his mom. She didn’t see any pictures of him with his dad, and wondered if his dad had passed away. On the nightstand was a book. 

She opened the closet and was delighted to see more cardigans like the one she was wearing. She looked over at the bathroom. She’d needed to pee for the last two hours, but felt a bit weird about, well, doing it. But she really needed to go.

She went into the bathroom and unzipped her pants. Peeing like a man couldn’t be that hard, right? She pulled herself out, and then smirked.

Yeah, she had hit the jackpot in the soulmate department.

* * *

Spencer was disoriented. He looked around, but he wasn’t in his apartment, nor Penelope’s, nor the BAU. And it wasn’t Darcy’s bedroom either. His head felt dizzy and confused as he realized he was laying on hard concrete, and the ache in his joints was from them being tied in front of him. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. He heard screaming, and looked toward where it was coming from, but no one else was in there with him.

_ “Jane!” _ he thought as the dizziness overtook him again and he passed out.

* * *

Spencer woke up feeling much better. He stretched for a moment and then abruptly sat up. He was back in his bed. He scrambled for his phone, finding it on the nightstand where Darcy had left it for him. He quickly dialed, and then waited impatiently.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up,” he muttered to himself. He looked over at the clock. It was just after 10, which meant it was 7 for the team.

“Hello?”

“Rossi! I need your help!” 

“Reid? Is that you or still your soulmate?”

“It’s me. We just switched back.”

“Did you have fun in her body?” he asked.

“Later!” Spencer growled. “She’s in trouble and I think the unsub might have her and Jane.” He was pacing his room and suddenly realized that he was wearing his favorite pajama pants and no shirt.

“I’m going to gather everyone and call you back so you don’t have to repeat anything. Are you at the office?”

“No, I’m still at my apartment,” he said.

“Okay. Stick by your phone,” Rossi said. “And try not to worry too much. You know we’re the best.”

Spencer hung up and took a deep breath, trying to let Rossi’s words calm him. He decided to get ready to head to the BAU, and opened his closet door to find an outfit hanging on the back, waiting for him. Sticking out of one of the pockets was a folded piece of paper.

_ Spencer, _

_ I hope you don’t mind that I picked out something for you to wear tomorrow if we switch before I have a chance to dress your body in it myself. Make Penelope take a picture of you and send it to me. I want to know if I did a good job. (I think I probably did just fine because I bet pretty much everything looks good on you.) I stayed up later than I intended to leaving little notes all over your apartment for you to find later. I hope that’s okay. I just thought you might enjoy little random reminders that you have a soulmate and she is excited to be yours. _

_ Penelope gave me money to order dinner last night, and I ordered extra so you could see what I thought sounded like the best dish from one of your (I assume) favorite places. It’s in the refrigerator for you. It would probably make a good lunch when you go in to work today. _

_ Obviously I went to the bathroom and undressed and redressed you, so I’ve seen, well, all of it. I promise, though, that I behaved myself. But, I’d like that to not be the case in the future if that’s an option because holy Thor on a thin mint are you attractive. But if that’s not cool with you, I totally understand. _

_ I had fun being you, but I’d much rather be us together. _

_ Darcy _

Spencer was in equal turns charmed and slightly embarrassed by her words, but he certainly agreed with her closing. 

Which reminded him that it wouldn’t happen if they didn’t find Darcy and Jane soon. He grabbed the outfit she had laid out and quickly got dressed. He shoved the note back in his pocket just as his phone rang.

“Reid,” he answered.

“Tell us everything,” Hotch commanded.

* * *

Darcy had been sitting on the cold concrete for what felt like hours, though she couldn’t be certain about her accuracy with time. She had woken up woozy with a rolling stomach, but there seemed to be little to throw up. She was coming in and out of consciousness and her mouth felt cottony in a way that made her think that she had been drugged.

Jane had been screaming, but no longer was, and that terrified Darcy. Or, at least she assumed it was Jane. Spencer would know.

Spencer.

Did he know they were in trouble? Had he been awake for any of it?

Darcy carefully twisted her wrists, the rope digging in and burning her skin. It was tight but she thought the knot might be manageable if she could just get the knot twisted to a place her fingers could work at it. By the time she had maneuvered it around, the rope was tinged red with her blood, but she ignored the pain as she got to work. She needed to get out and get Jane.

She didn't know how long it took, but her fingers were also raw and bleeding, her nails broken, when the rope finally gave way. It had dug into her skin enough that it didn't fall away as the knot came undone. Instead she had to pull it off her skin, letting out a hiss and a curse as she threw it on the ground. Her fingers were shaking as she moved to her ankles. She stopped, looking at her clothes. She wasn't in the clothes she had work the previous morning, nor was she in her pajamas, nor the sweats she had put in her soulmate bag. She was in her favorite jeans and a thin, soft sweater her mom had sent her years ago, just a random gift in the mail several months before she died. She wondered if Jane told him it was one of her favorites. She looked herself over and wondered if the dirt and grime and blood would wash out of it.

She forced her fingers to work, fumbling through another set of knots while carefully listening for sounds that might let her know what was going on. At last the rope fell away and she pushed onto shaky legs. She was in a garage. She looked around until she found something useful. There was a crowbar in one of the tool chests. Perfect. She should be able to use that to break into something, but also to defend herself. She felt the heft of it in her hand.

Time to save Jane.

* * *

"You're more use there," Hotch said over the video connection. "We need to be able to talk to you, and you won't be able to talk to us on a commercial flight. Having you out of contact for five hours isn't acceptable. Stay. Put." The connection terminated.

"I'm sorry," Garcia said, fluttering around him. "Being stuck here is the worst when it's your soulmate out there," she added.

"Is this what it's like for you every time we're in the field?" he asked, running a hand over his face.

"Not every, but close."

"I'm sorry." He slumped into a chair. "I had no idea."

"Honestly you get used to it. It was much worse when we first met." She paused as she manipulated the data on her screen. "But we also never switched, and we certainly didn't deal with waking up in danger right before switching back."

"I don't even know if it's related," he admitted. "Dr. Foster is a target in her own right, and I'm fairly certain the screaming I heard was her."

Garcia cringed and the ringing of his phone broke the quiet that had followed his words.

"Reid," he answered.

"Spencer! Love! How was your birthday swap?" his mom asked.

"How did you...my birthday isn't until next week."

"No," his mom said gently, "it was yesterday. Yesterday was the eleventh, which is your birthday. Now then, I want to hear all about them. Where are they? What were they like?"

"But my birth certificate..." he said, still hung up on that. Was his mom having difficulty remembering? Did he need to call her doctor?

"Oh, that typo?"

"Typo?"

"Yes, yes. We told the county health department that they had messed up, but it was oddly difficult to get it changed, so we just left it. But your birthday has always been the eleventh."

"But my parties..."

"Were whenever was convenient." He could hear the shrug in her voice.

"Mom! I've gone my whole life thinking it was the seventeenth!"

"But I always sent your cards on the proper day."

"I just thought you sent them early so they would be there on time," he said, exasperated.

"Darling, no. I'm very meticulous. You know that."

"I do," he agreed. "But I was taken by surprise when we switched yesterday. I wasn't prepared."

“Oh Spencer,” she said with a sigh that screamed ‘concerned mother,’ “preparing isn’t something you can do for a soulmate. They just are, and it’s a beautiful line of poetry how you belong together. Most of the greatest wrote something about them, but it really doesn’t even begin to compare. As you now know, I’m sure.”

Spencer tipped his head back in his chair. As usual, his mother was right. “Her name is Darcy,” he began.

* * *

Darcy was crouched over Jane. She was breathing and semi-alert, but she was pretty banged up. She knew Jane needed to get to a hospital, but she was going to need help to do it because Jane wasn’t going to make it far on her own. She didn’t see any obvious broken bones, but she barely had the ability to stay conscious, there was no way she was walking out of there.

“Jane,” she said in soft, soothing tones, “I’m going to find a way to get you out of here, okay? I’m not going to leave the room, but I need to search for anything that can help us all right?”

“Don’t leave,” Jane rasped.

“I won’t,” Darcy promised, brushing some of Jane’s hair out of her eyes. “Not without you.” She desperately hoped that would be true. She had searched most of the rooms on her way to finding Jane, but there was one other room besides this one, and she hoped she didn’t need to check it. She needed something to be in here.

She went to the closet first, and almost shut the door again immediately. It was filled with things she had never seen before, but the sharp, glistening edges told her they were for hurting people.

“Don’t look in here, Jane,” Darcy commanded as she opened the door again and began looking. She didn’t think there would be a phone in here, but she needed to check. There might be something else useful. She carefully poked her way through all the blades and sinister tools, cutting herself on one of the edges as she tried to push it away to find what was hidden behind it on the shelf. It was a small box, and when she opened it, it was full of locks of hair. She almost dropped it, somehow more disturbed by the box than by the torture devices.She shoved it back on the shelf and continued looking. 

As she was pulling up a board in the floor that was loose, she heard a noise, so soft she almost missed it. She hurried out of the closet as quietly as she could and stood between Jane and the door, gripping her crowbar tightly and wondering if she should have grabbed one of the wicked looking knives instead.

A figure suddenly appeared in the doorway. He was wearing some sort of tactical gear with strong fabric that she guessed was bullet proof and lots of buckles. He had chin length brown hair and a gun in his hand that he pulled up to aim at her.

“You can’t have my Jane,” she said trembling, but ready to fight even though she could tell she would lose. “I promise to keep you safe,” she said to Jane.

The man tilted his head. “You’re protecting her?”

“She’s my best friend,” Darcy said simply. “And my soulmate.”

This seemed to make him pause. “But…,” he said, eyes darting between the two of them, “ _ I’m _ her soulmate.”

Darcy’s eyes widened, and she looked over at Jane who had finally looked up at him. Sure enough, when their eyes met, there was a small burst of light signaling the connection.

“Oh Jane,” she said, her throat tight with tears. She turned back to the man. "Please help us. I don’t think she can walk.”

He was instantly by Jane’s side, hands running carefully over her body.  “Where are you hurt?”

“Everywhere,” Jane said in a way that was breathy in disbelief instead of pain. “But we didn’t switch,” she said.

He grimaced. “We did, but I was in a...medically induced unconsciousness.” He said it in a way that made Darcy think it wasn’t a lie, but wasn’t the whole truth either. “You wouldn’t have remembered anything from the switch.” He gently put his arms under her. “I’m going to pick you up. It might hurt, but we need to get out of here.” He lifted like she weighed nothing at all, but Jane still let out a soft whimper. “Shhh,” he soothed, “I’m here doll. I’ve got you.” Once he was standing again, he looked at Darcy. “Follow me closely.” Darcy didn’t need to be told twice.

* * *

Spencer felt like he was full of electricity that sizzled under his skin. He bramp-bramp-bramp thrummed his fingers on the desktop in a nervous habit that didn’t do enough to stop the impatience he felt.

Garcia’s hand went to his, stilling it. “I know, but you’re driving me nuts,” she said. 

He sighed. He knew he was annoying her, but he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. “It’s been hours,” he complained.

“Has it?” Garcia asked in a mock innocence that he wasn’t sure how to interpret.

“Yes,” he bit out more harshly than he had intended. “It’s been four hours and fifty-two minutes.”

Garcia smiled. “I’m glad you’re still you enough to know that.”

He pushed his chair back and started to pace the room. “I just don’t know what to do with myself,” he said. “She’s out there and she’s hurt and Jane’s hurt and I’m just sitting here. Every minute longer makes it less likely we’ll find them alive.” He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I just got a glimpse of her. I don’t want to lose her,” he said in a small voice.

“I know,” Garcia said, coming to him and enveloping him in a tight hug. “I’m scared too, but she is capable a strong and the team’s doing all they can.”

He sagged into her, trying to believe all the words she said, but he wasn’t sure he could. He was worried that having hope would just make the crash harder when it was dashed.

“Let’s go make some tea,” she said, letting him go. “I need some, and you need to do something other than stare at these computer screens.”

“But-”

“We’ll take our phones with us,” she said, gently pushing his shoulders to guide him to the door. “We need to stop sitting in here. Right now it’s a vault of emotional turmoil for you and that’s making things worse.” She opened the door and waived him through. “Let’s go.”

He followed her and was surprised how the brightness of the hallway compared to her office hit his eyes and did make him feel the tiniest bit better. 

“So you spent most of the day with her?” he asked as they made their way to the break room.

“I did.”

“And?” 

“And I think she’s perfect for you,” Garcia said, throwing a smile over her shoulder. “She’s really good at making people feel comfortable, and it sounds like you have a lot of similar interests. She’s not afraid to debate, but never in a mean way. You’ll do well together.”

Spencer focused on pouring hot water from the dispenser. “Did she say anything about me?” he asked, studiously not looking at Garcia so he couldn’t see her judging him.

Garcia snorted. “So. Much.” She snagged a tea bag from the box and waited until he had nothing else to fiddle with before she spoke again. “I promised her I wouldn’t tell you what she said when she finally got a good look at your body in the mirror, but I  _ will _ say there were also excited noises.” she dunked her tea bag a bit before continuing on. “She also was really interested in hearing about your dissertations. I, of course, didn’t know the details of them, but we found them online, and she spent a little time reading over them while mumbling to herself. At one point I heard her lament that she wouldn’t be able to take notes with her when she switched back.”

He smiled at the thought as they both started to make their way back to Garcia’s office. He pulled the door shut and they sat down. He held his mug close to his face and inhaled the calming camomile scent feeling much calmer than he had before.

“See?” Garcia said before sipping her own tea. “Tea is magical and makes everything better.”

“I’ll believe it when it brings Darcy back safe,” he said just as his phone started ringing. He nearly spilled histea trying to set it down so he could grab his phone from his pocket and answer. “Hello?”

“Spencer?”

“Darcy?” he asked, unwilling to believe it was her voice.

“Oh thank Thor,” she said quickly. “We’re at the hospital. Send your team so we can tell them how to get to that bastard’s house.”

“Are you…?”

“I’m mostly fine. I cut my wrists up getting out of the rope. Jane’s worse than me, but I don’t know if she’s even noticed. Her soulmate saved us.”

Spencer felt a pang of jealousy that Jane’s soulmate saved them while he had been stuck at the BAU. “Wait, I thought she was unmarked.”

“It’s kind of a weird, possibly classified story,” Darcy said. “Also, I need to know all the best ways to get your team to agree to bring the three of us to you in DC.”

“To DC?

“Yeah, there’s no way that after all that I’m not running to you so I know you’re safe and whole and mine.”

“In that case,” he said, “let me tell you about how Rossi is secretly a huge romantic…”

* * *

Darcy looked over at the small corner of the plane where James was hovering close to Jane like he had been the entire flight. Earlier they had been having a quiet conversation, but now she was sleeping. She watched as he reached to touch her face, but then didn’t; his fingers ghosting over the outline of her black eye. She had seen the desire to kill the man who had done this to his soulmate, but Jane had stilled him with her own words of revenge. “Death is too quick and not a high enough price to pay.” He had stopped, considered that, and flipped his knife back into whatever hiding spot it had come from while agents took him into custody.

James had been mostly tight lipped about the switch, feeling guilty for Jane thinking she didn’t have a soulmate, but when Jane had asked why it had taken him two years to find her, he told her that he had to be awoken before he could start, and then there had been some people to take care of to make sure she would be safe when they met. There was more guilt that he hadn’t been there sooner to stop what had happened, but Jane had soothed him by reminding him of the casual violence of life that he should not be held responsible for.

Darcy shifted her attention back to the BAU team. Spencer had been right- everyone was fairly easy to convince besides Agent Hotchner. She wondered about his complicated soulmate past and how it bled into his everyday life. In the end, though, he had given in when the rest of the team started arguing on her behalf. She watched Derek text (she assumed) Penelope with a smile on his face and a few looks in her direction. JJ and Rossi were in quiet conversation, but it came to a close, and then JJ came to sit across from her.

“We’re landing soon,” she said, eyes darting to the window. “Are you ready?”

“Ready?” Darcy asked.

“To see him.”

Darcy smiled. “I’ve been ready for the last five years. Being in each other’s bodies? That’s one thing. But I’m ready to see him how he fully is. All I really have is a knowledge of his job and a few random bits I learned from Penelope and his apartment. I’m ready for Spencer.”

JJ smiled at her. “You’ll do,” she said. “He’s been waiting for you for a long time too.” With that she got up as the landing announcement came on and everyone buckled their seat belts.

The landing was smooth, and before she knew it, she was grasping her bag and walking down the small staircase onto the tarmac. A bit away from the plane were Penelope and Spencer. Derek ran to Penelope, but Darcy and Spencer walked slower, almost in a dream. When they locked eyes, there was a flash that temporarily blinded her. When she could see again, she only had eyes for him, and he was right in front of her.

“Hey soulmate,” she said. Her voice was breathy.

“Hello,” he said, smiling down at her.

She tugged on his tie until he bent over. “I’m going to kiss you now,” she said.

He nodded his head slightly and then wrapped her arms around her.

Yeah, the universe had gotten this right, she thought as she forgot about anything else but him.

**Author's Note:**

> Holy smokes do I miss Flagstaff. Also, all the places mentioned here are real.


End file.
